University of New Orleans Team Wins Regional Robotics Competition

Members of the winning team are (from left) Nishan Rayamajhee, Nischal Pant and Prayug Koirala.

Members of the University of New Orleans Robotics Club demonstrated the value of interdisciplinary collaboration when they won the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Region 5 Robotics competition on April 1 in Denver, Colo. The winning team, one of 33 teams in the contest, was made up of Nishan Rayamajhee, a sophomore computer science major; Prayug Koirala, a sophomore mechanical engineering major and Nischal Pant, a senior electrical engineering major. They scored twice as many points as their nearest competitor. Region 5 of the IEEE includes Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and parts of New Mexico, Wyoming and South Dakota.

The competition is open to teams of up to five undergraduate students who are challenged to build autonomous robots. The robots are tested on tunnel detection with use of mapping scenarios. Scoring is based on completing tasks within an allotted time.

A total of five teams made up of UNO students participated in the robotics competition, and all of them are members of UNO’s Robotics Club, an interdepartmental student organization involving computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Robotics Club membership is open to any UNO undergraduate student, freshman to senior, even with no prior experience in circuits or programming. Members of the winning team consider this inclusive, collaborative approach to club membership as key to their success.